Last



Nov. 8,1938. D WALKE T A 2,135,546

LAST

' Filed July 51, 1937 Flgl.

lnven'rors.

unKHn Wczl K S. Anders Patented Nov. s, 1938 PATENT OFFICE LAST Doris Franklin Walker,

Gastonia, N. 0., and William S. Anderson, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application'July 31, 1937, Serial No. 156,712

1 Claim.

This invention'relates to the manufacture of welt shoes which have the outsole cemented to the shoe bottom instead of stitched thereto.

In a welt shoe the welt and the outer marginal portion of the outsole which contacts with the welt project somewhat beyond the edge of the last on which the shoe is made, and one problem involved in the cementing of an outsole to the bottom of a welt shoe is to provide for the application of the requisite amount of pressure between the welt and said outer marginal portion of the outsole to make the firm cemented union between the two at the edge of the sole which is necessary in producing a satisfactory shoe by the so-called "cement process. It has been proposed to use a welt hold-down having for its purpose to form a sort of backing for the welt while the sole-attaching pressure is being applied It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a novel last for use in making welt shoes in which the outsole is cemented to the shoe bottom, which is so constructed that the application of the sole-attaching pressure to the outsole will result in forcing the welt toward the upper face of the outsole as Well as forcing the outsole toward the welt, the result being that the welt and the outsole will be firmly pressed together and thus firmly cemented at their outer edges without the necessity of using a welt holddown or other means to provide a suitable backing for the welt.

A further object of our invention is to provide a last for use in making welt shoes in which the outsole is cemented to the shoe bottom, which last is so constructed that when the shoe is initially made the foot-engaging face of the sole will have a concave shape approximating the concave shape which the foot-engaging face of the sole of a shoe assumes after the shoe has been well broken in.

In order to give an understanding of the invention we have illustrated in the drawing some selected embodiments thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of a last embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through a lasted welt shoe with the last therein before the outsole is applied thereto;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the step of cementing the outsole to the shoe bottom in accordance with our invention;

Figs. 4 and 5 are transverse sectional views showing different embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing I indicates a last for use in making a welt shoe of the type in which the outsole is cemented to the shoe bottom. The bottom face 2 of the fore part of the last is convex in a direction transversely of the last, the convexity being approximately such as to complement the concave shape which the foot-engaging face of a shoe sole assumes after it has been thoroughly broken in.

The last is also made with a rib-receiving groove 3 in its bottom face adjacent the marginal edge of the fore part, said groove being wider than its depth and situated in a position to receive the rib on the insole of the welt shoe during the application of the sole-attaching pressure by which the outsole is applied. This rib-receiving groove 3 terminates at the shank portion of the last but extends around the fore part thereof. Said groove is not only wider than its depth but the outer wall (19 in Figs. 2 and 4 and 23 in Fig. 5) is flat and forms an angle of more than with the surface of the last bottom outside said groove.

The preliminary steps of making a welt shoe having an outsole cemented thereto by means of my improved last are the same as in the making of any welt shoe, that is, the shoe may be lasted in the usual way and then the edges 4 of the upper 5 and the welt 6 will be stitched to the rib l of the insole 8 by means of the inseam stitches 9 as shown in Fig. 2. After the making of the shoe has progressed to this point, then the next step is to cement the outsole ID to the shoe bottom.

The last is so made that the rib-receiving groove 3 in the bottom thereof will be opposite the rib l of the insole. When the outsole Ill is put in position and the sole-attaching pressure is applied thereto, the edge 4 of the upper, the rib l and the inner portion of the welt stitched thereto will be forced toward the last and the portion l3 of the insole to which the upper and welt are sewed will be forced into the groove 3 as shown in Fig. 3. The shape of the groove and the position of the outer wall thereof is such that this deforming or the insole as indicated at 13 tends to draw the inner edge of the welt upwardly toward the last with the result that the outer edge of the welt I subjected to a downward pressure tending to force it against the outsole, and these opposed forces serve to firmly cement the welt and the sheet which conforms to the shape of the outsole. The sole-attaching pressure may be applied by forcing the lasted shoe and the outsole against the flexible top I6 of the chamber I5, or said pressure may be applied by inflating the chamber I5 after the shoe has been brought into contact with the top I6 thereof. 7

The groove 3 in the bottom of the last may have various shapes without departing from theinventionr In Fig. 2 it is formed with a rather abrupt inner wall I8 and a straight wall I9 which extends nearly but not quite to the periphery of the last, thereby leaving a marginal portion 20 of the last bottom outside of the groove and which makes an angle of more than 135 with the bottom surface of said marginal portion.

In Fig. 4 the last is shown with a groove 360,

which also has the flat outer wall 19 ascabovedescribed, but has an inner Wall 2| which is less abrupt or steep than the wall. I3 of the groove 3 in Fig. 2, thus making a somewhat wider groove. In Fig. 5 there is shown a last having a different form of groove indicated at 3b, said groove having 'both side walls 23 of approximately the same width and having a rounded apex, the outer wall being flat and having substantially the same angular relation as the walls I9 of the grooves 3 and 3a. Grooves of other shapes maybe employed without departing from the invention, provided the groove is constructed to present the outer flat Wall having the above-described angular relation to the last bottom and is so shaped that when the sole-attaching pressure is applied to the outsole the deformation of the inner sole and the welt resulting from forcing said inner sole into the groove will cause the inner edge of the welt tobe carried upwardly and the outer edge to be forced downwardly into firm contact'with the outsole.

'It will be understood, of course, that in making the shoe a suitable amount of fillingmaterial 25 will be used between the insole and the outsole.

A last having the construction herein illustrated can also be advantageously used in making a shoe in which the outsole is sewed to the welt.

We claim: 7

A last for use in making welt shoes in which the outsole is cemented to the shoe bottom, said last having its bottom face convexedly curved in a direction transversely thereof and being provided on its bottom face with a relatively wide V-shaped rib-receiving groove extending entirely around the fore part of the last and situated opposite the rib of an insole of a welt shoe being made on the last to which the upper and welt of said shoe are stitched, the depth of the groove being less than its width at the surface of the 'last and the outer Wall of the groove being flat and making an angle of more than 135 with the bottom surface of the last whereby when the soleattaching pressure is applied to the outsole for cementing it to the shoe bottom the said rib will be forced into said groove and the welt will have a force applied thereto moving the outer edge thereof toward the outsole.

DORIS FRANKLIN WALKER.

WILLIAM S. ANDERSON. 

